Bookpleasures.com welcomes as our guest, Suzy Beamer Bohnert. Suzy has recently written College,Covid, and Questions:  Tips and Advice for Incoming Freshmen,Undergraduates, Transfer Students, and Parents.

Growing up Suzy playedsports participating in leagues, playing in gyms, and gathering theneighborhood kids to join in pickup games until the streetlights weretoo dim to light the sporting site. 

 She launched her writingcareer as a newspaper sports editor. During that job, Suzyinterviewed numerous coaches, athletes, and fans about sports,putting complicated games into simple words.

An author of manyacclaimed books for readers, her award-winners include Game-DayYouth:  Learning Baseball’s Lingo, a Mom’s ChoiceAward-winner for “Most Outstanding Nonfiction Children’sBook”; Game-Day Youth:  Learning Basketball’s Lingo,named Best Books for Teen Boys by the New Hampshire Library MediaAssociation; Game-Day Youth:  Learning Football's Lingo,received the Honorable Mention Award for nonfiction in theReaders' Favorite International Book Awards; and the Game-DayGoddess Sports Series, 3-Volume Set, was selected as Best Booksfor College Students by StudentAdvisor.com, a WashingtonPost Co.  College, Covid, and Questions: Tipsand Advice for Incoming Freshmen, Undergraduates, Transfer Students,and Parents, Game-Day Goddess:  Learning Baseball’sLingo, Game-Day Youth:  Learning Basketball’sLingo, Game-Day Youth:  Learning Baseball’sLingo, and Game-Day Youth:  Learning Football'sLingo each won the Readers’ Favorite Five-StarAward.

Suzy is the recipient of nineteen national awardsfor writing excellence. She lives in northern Virginia with herhusband and family. 

Norm: Good day Suzy andthanks for taking part in our interview for bookpleasures.com. 

How did you get startedin writing? What keeps you going?

Suzy:  Back inelementary school I discovered the Weekly Reader, and many ofthose assignments involved writing.  That proved to be myfavorite activity each day.  Throughout the school year, Ilooked forward to putting on paper the words in my head, and I stilldo.

I love to write andcommunicate with others, so that people learn about topics thatinterest them or that they want to learn more about.  That givesme great satisfaction and always will.

Norm: What do youconsider to be your greatest success (or successes) so far in yourwriting career?  

Suzy:  Completingmy books and having people tell me that they made a difference intheir lives is a great feeling. 

For example, I heard froma father who wanted to coach his daughter's basketball team, but hedidn't know how to go about doing that, so he purchased a copy of mybook, Game-Day Youth:  Learning Basketball'sLingo.  From the book, he learned game fundamentals,player positions and roles, and the vocabulary to use wheninstructing his players.  He said the book make all thedifference during his first season as a coach.

Norm: What has beenyour greatest challenge (professionally) that you’ve overcome ingetting to where you’re at today? 

Suzy: In the writingprofession, you often face rejection.  For instance, someonedecides not to publish your book and another pens a critical reviewof something you wrote.  While you could feel defeated, that'snot the right mindset.  Pick yourself up, brush yourself off,and forge ahead.  Not everyone will like everything you write,but don't take that criticism personally.  Maintain confidencein your abilities and keep writing.

Norm: In youropinion, what is the most difficult part of the writing process?Please summarize your writing process. 

Suzy: Getting peopleto consent to do an interview with you is probably the toughest thingbecause people are busy, and sometimes it takes time to pin down atime and date with an interviewee.  You need the informationfrom the interview to add new insights to your writing, so it's animportant part of the process.

As for the writingprocess, I start out by getting ideas and doing research to see ifthe concept is feasible and to give me background information. If so, I proceed with an outline of topics and come up with questionsand people to interview.  Then, I write, edit, and complete thearticle or book.

Norm: What did youfind most useful in learning to write? What was least useful or mostdestructive? 

Suzy: My journalismclasses in high school and college were the most helpful because theytaught me how to formulate and ask questions, interview people, andput those ideas into a coherent format--and to do that quickly. Those classes also provided help in the areas of finding sources andconducting good research.

Unfortunately, there arewriting classes out there that sell you on the idea that they willmake you a best-selling author in record time, but they don'tdeliver. Writing is hard work, so invest in some classes throughreputable organizations or community colleges.

Norm: What made youinterested in writing about sports and sports' books? 

Suzy:  I playedsports as a youth, participating on the basketball, soccer, andsoftball teams at my high school.  At the same school, I servedas sports editor of the student newspaper.  From there, I wenton to college to study journalism.  At first, I thought I wouldgo into sports broadcasting, which is a highly competitive field. Instead, I chose to write about sports and became a newspapersportswriter and then a sports editor.

When covering sports forthe paper, I realized a lot of people wanted to enjoy athleticcontests they attended, but they didn't always know the rules orconcepts.  Seeing there weren't many sources for thatinformation, I wrote books for adults and youths on basketball,football, and baseball.

Norm: What do youthink most characterizes your writing? 

Suzy: I'd like tothink I put complex topics into simple language, so that everyone canunderstand them.

Norm: What arecommon mistakes authors of sports' books make? 

Suzy: Not doingenough market research to determine who your audience is when you'reputting together the outline for your book and gathering andconducting interviews that don't lead to information that helps thereader.

Norm: What are yourthoughts as to why people read books on sports? 

Suzy: People like toread about their favorite teams and athletes.  Others may neverhave been athletic--but wish they were--and marvel at the sportslegends, past and present.  Some pick a specific sport and wantto read about the topic, so they can make conversation at the officewith a colleague or at a kid's sporting event with a neighbor.

Norm: What would youlike to accomplish as an author that you have not? 

Suzy: I would like towrite more books and try my hand at fiction more so than I have inthe past.

Norm: Could you tellour audience a little about your most recent book, College,Covid, and Questions:  Tips and Advice for Incoming Freshmen,Undergraduates, Transfer Students, and Parents? 

Suzy: College,Covid, and Questions:  Tips and Advice for Incoming Freshmen,Undergraduates, Transfer Students, and Parents is a recentlyreleased book that addresses the unique issues and concerns ofcollege students and parents.  

College, Covid, andQuestions will help you to know:

- School essentials duringcoronavirus

- Considerations whenbuying a computer

- Technology to succeed inschool

- Characteristics to lookfor in a tutor

- Advice on help withaccommodations and services from the Center for AccessibilityServices

- Advantages anddisadvantages of campus meal plans

- Hints and tips whenseeking an internship

- Tips to get along withroommates

- Academic advisors-yourrole and theirs

Simple, clear answersabout coronavirus and college, classes, internships, campus dining,dorms, roommates and residence life, academic advisors and mentors,clubs, recreational activities, and getting back home.

This is the essentialguide to navigating the college journey successfully in theseunprecedented times.

Norm: What wereyour goals and intentions in this book, and how well do you feel youachieved them? 

Suzy: While there area variety of books to help you get into college, there are very fewthat help you navigate the college scene once you receive admittance,transfer to a different university, or start attending classes oncampus.  Even parents have questions to ask about theuniversity experience because things may have changed since theirdays at college, or maybe they never set foot on a campus and don’tknow the first thing to ask.

This book came about forthis very reason.  Bewildered by the number of colleges outthere and their differences, we looked for one source to answer amultitude of questions in one place.  We found SAT testpractice books, college rankings and ratings, and how-to books onwriting college essays, but nothing that helped with how to ask andhave questions answered when you don’t know what you don’t know.

I think the book College,Covid, and Questions answers the questions people are asking.   

Norm: What are some ofthe references that you used while researching this book? 

Suzy: I referencednewspapers, magazines, and books.  I also spoke to universityrepresentatives, trade-association spokesmen, company and government-agency personnel, and students themselves in answering thequestions.  What resulted was a guidebook for parentsof prospective college students, incoming freshmen, college transferstudents, and those now studying at universities. The book deals withall aspects of college, and it does answer  importantquestions. 

Norm: What have yourother books taught you that you have been able to apply to your mostrecent book? 

Suzy: Plot out howyou plan to research, write, and market your book.  Do your bestto follow that plan.

Norm: Many people havethe skills and drive to write a book, but failure to market and sellthe book the right way is probably what keep a lot of people fromfinding success. Can you give us 2-3 strategies that have beeneffective for you in promoting your books? 

Suzy: I wouldrecommend seeking out book reviews to give credibility to your book,do public speaking at different events to promote the book, and teachclasses about the topic of your book.

Norm: Where can ourreaders find out more about you and your books? 

Suzy: The booksare available now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Walmart, OverDrive,and Kobo in paperback and e-book. Check out my  WEBSITE.

Norm: What is next forSuzy Beamer Bohnert? 

Suzy:  I'll bewriting more books and continuing to try my best to meet the needs ofreaders. 

Norm: As this interviewcomes to an end, if you could invite three sports' celebrities,living or dead, to have dinner at your home, who would they be andwhy? 

Suzy:   PeteMaravich, who played college basketball at LSU and averaged 44.2points per game during three years.  Don't forget, there was nothree-point line at the time.  Best college basketball playerever and, in the pros, a masterful, creative athlete on offense. I'd ask him for tips on how to shoot and play better on offense.

Chris Evert--A consistent,classy tennis player who won at least one Grand Slam title 13 yearsconsecutively and made it to 34 Grand Slam singles finals--the mostof any pro tennis player.  I'd ask how she hit that two-handedbackhand so well, because I use a two-handed backhand when I playtennis, too.

Hank Aaron--A baseballplayer who hit 755 home runs during his playing career with theAtlanta Braves and Milwaukee is remembered as the man whose record oftotal home runs lasted for 30 years.  "Hammerin' Hank"also batted in 2,297 runs, had 1,477 extra-base hits, and 6,856 totalbases.  Because pitchers feared him, I'd ask for hitting tips. Although I don't play baseball, I know he could tell me how to hit asoftball just as well.

Norm: Thanks once againand good luck with all of your future endeavors